Alas, it's not meant to be.
Turns out the ring gear on the M42 FW has just a hair smaller ID than the e30m3 ring, so it's NOT going on there. The OD is significantly smaller on the M42 FW. So, the starter gear was trying to engage, but it butted up against the larger ring of the e30m3 FW and sat there, spinning.
It's conceivable that it might work if you had an e30m3 starter (or a starter gear swap), but that's not happening.
I've spent entirely too much time on this project in the middle of an engine swap. Oh well, stock will have to be good enough for the DD.
cheers!
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DUDE - DONT GIVE UP!!!!I've just read this thread very carefully and theese are my aids:
You have to measure few distances:
1. The one between the middle of the crank hole to the middle of the starter hole - You have to check the S14 compared to M42 engine...
2. If they are the same, measure the FW diameter, if this is the same,
3. Check how deep the starter teeth dive to reach the FW teeth on both engines...
If any of those measures differs from another engine, It is a must to change the mounting points to set them just in the same corelation /i mean starter with the FW/...
And BTW S14 is based on the same block as M10 is /we've already checked this/ so M10 starter fits S14 /it wont work with the S14 because of the manifold, but it has the same mounting measures... So maybe the cure is to put there M10 starter /it has to have the same teeth as S14 starter/, not the S14 /which is rare or more expencive/.
I had the same idea of swapping the M42 FW with S14 FW, but I didn't start to do it yet. But anyway I wouldn't start anything untill measuring the two engines well... Pulling out the FW is not very easy job, to do it over and over again...
I'd rather pull the tranny away and than try to fit the FW on the crank, checking if it works w/o tranny at all... It is safe, but You have to keep the engine stable when the launching is happening. And of corse fire it up
w/o the cluth mounted on!!! There is also the risk of braking the teeth easily, when they don't dive deep enough to reach the FW teeth completely, but You can wire the starter just partially w/o starting the starter at all... It should show You if the depth is correctly applied.
To correct the depth, I'd use spacers or make the starter mountings machined to decrease the depth /if needed/. Just have to check the depth.
I'll check my setup tomorrow because I have the parts out of my car. I will check the simillarity of the two FW /the M42 one and S14 one/ and post a sollution if I'll find one...
Feel free PM me if You need any more info...